Ewood Park is rather impressive, having had three new large stands built during the 1990's. These stands are at both ends and at one side of the ground. They are of the same height and of roughly similar design, being two tiered, having a row of executive boxes and similar roofs. The ends are particularly good looking, both having large lower tiers. The only downside is the open corners, although there is a huge screen at one corner by the away end, which shows an excellent pre-match programme and amongst other things, the teams emerging from the dressing rooms and onto the pitch. There is also an electric scoreboard at the Bryan Douglas Darwen End of the ground.

The Riverside is the only undeveloped stand, running down one side of the pitch. This is a smaller single tiered stand and is not as pleasing to the eye as its more modern counterparts. In fact it looks older than what it is having been opened in 1988. It contains a fair number of supporting pillars and is partly covered (to the rear). Just to highlight how much the ground has changed, this was at one time the 'best' stand at Ewood Park. One other interesting feature of the ground, is the fact that the pitch is raised. This means that players have to run up a small incline, whilst taking throw-ins and corners. Outside the stadium behind the Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End there is a statue of former club owner Jack Walker.

There are plans to re-develop the Riverside Stand, but there are no firm time scales as to when this is likely to take place. The proposed new stand will increase the capacity at Ewood park to around 40,000.

Away fans are housed in the Bryan Douglas Darwen End, where the facilities provided are good. However, the spacing between the rows of seats leaves a lot to be desired, being quite tight. The Darwen End is shared with home supporters, but if demand requires it the whole of the stand can be made available. Normally the away allocation is for three quarters of the stand, at just under 4,000 tickets, which are split between the whole of the upper tier and part of the lower tier (with the lower tier being allocated first). If you have not bought a ticket in advance, then you need to buy one from the away supporters ticket office at the ground as you can't pay on the turnstiles. The ticket office is located on the corner of the Darwen End & the Jack Walker Stand.

On the concourse the food available includes; a range of Holland's Pies (Chicken Balti, Peppered Steak, Potato and Meat, Cheese and Onion all £2.30), Sausage Rolls (£2) and Hot Dogs (£3.20). The refreshment areas are opened 90 minutes before kick off and close 15 minutes into the second half. If you are looking to eat something prior to entering the ground, then there is a baker in Bolton Road selling hot pies from one of its windows. Across the Bolton Road by the home end is a McDonalds, which I noticed had a walk through service for fans! I found the Blackburn fans both friendly and helpful, plus coupled with the relaxed stewarding, has made it so far for me, four pleasant visits to Ewood Park.

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Behind the Bryan Douglas Darwen End, the Club have created a fanzone area, into which away fans are admitted. It has some large screens showing previous meetings between the two sides and more importantly food and drink outlets, where you can buy a 'Pie and a Pint' for £4.90. The closest pub to Ewood Park that away supporters can use is the Fernhurst pub on Bolton Road, which is only a five minute walk from the visitors turnstiles. Now part of the Hungry Horse chain, it quickly fills up on matchdays and once full no further fans are allowed entry, until people leave. However please note that in keeping with the 'families atmosphere' of the pub, fans are asked to refrain from singing. John Chadbourne a visiting Nottingham Forest supporter recommends Uncle Jacks on Branch Road; 'It welcomes away fans, has an excellent selection of beers, including cask ales. It is only a ten minute walk from Ewood Park'.

There is the Golden Cup pub which is further on past the Fernhurst (going away from the ground) on Bolton Road and is tucked in by the motorway bridge. However this Thwaites pub is quite small, gets rather crowded and it is a good 20 minute walk (and mostly uphill) from Ewood Park. It is friendly though and also offers a range of pies. You can also park at the pub for a cost of £5. If you have a bit of time on your hands and you like your real ale then Robert Bury suggests; 'The Black Bull pub at the top of Bog Height Road (this is the road next to the Golden Cup and the Black Bull pub is located one mile up this road on the left) is home to the Three B's Brewery and has up to eight ales on tap. You can also enjoy great views over the surrounding countryside and Blackburn from its elevated position.' On the other side of the M65 motorway on Blackburn Road but going in the opposite direction to Ewood Park towards Darwen, is the Anchor Hotel, which is also frequented by away fans.

Just around the corner from the entrance to Blackburn Railway Station is a Wetherspoons outlet called the Postal Order. Alcohol is also served within the ground in the form of; Fosters (£3.50 pint), John Smith's (£3.50 pint), Bulmers Cider (£2.70 bottle) and Wine (£3.90 small bottle). The Club offer two pints of lager or bitter for £6.70. You can even have them served in a two pint pot!

Use Motorway M6 to junction 30, to the M61 - leave junction 9 then onto the M65 towards Blackburn - leave the M65 at Junction 4 (A666) and follow signs towards Blackburn/darwen. Ewood Park is about one mile down the road on the right hand side.

From The South

Use Motorway M6 to junction 29, then onto the M65 towards Blackburn - leave the M65 at Junction 4 (A666) and follow signs towards Blackburn. Turn right at the first set of traffic lights and Ewood Park is about 1 mile down the road on the right hand side.

From The East

Use Motorway M62 onto M66/A56, then onto the M65, head towards Blackburn - leave the M65 at Junction 4 (A666) and follow signs towards Blackburn. Turn right at the first set of traffic lights and Ewood Park is about 1 mile down the road on the right hand side.

Car Parking

Various private car parks are available in the area around Ewood Park (especially along Branch Road), costing in the region of £5. If you want to get away reasonably quickly after the game (the roads immediately around Ewood Park are closed off for crowd safety for around 30 minutes after the game) then as you come down the hill on the A666, you will pass a BP Petrol Garage on your left. Turn right at the next traffic lights into Branch Road and down on your left there are some industrial units offering matchday parking. After the game turn left out of the car parks, so that you are going away from Ewood, turn right at the second mini roundabout and this will take you back up to the M65.

The closest railway station is Mill Hill which is around a 15 minute walk away from Ewood Park. It is served by trains from Blackburn and the journey only takes a few minutes. Blackburn station itself is at least a couple of miles from the ground and hence a good 25-30 minute walk away. Blackburn station is served by trains from Manchester & Leeds.

Tony Durkin adds; 'The main doors to the railway station face the bus station, from where you can take a either a Number 1, 3 or 225 bus (the latter goes from Stand N) bus to Ewood. To walk it to the ground instead, turn left at those main doors and go straight on towards Darwen Street. Turn left and you will reach a major junction over which runs a railway bridge (Darwen Street Bridge), which is impossible to miss. Crossing over the road as soon as you turn left onto Darwen Street will be a help, as when you get to the junction you need to follow the road towards Bolton. It is called Great Bolton Street after the bridge and then becomes Bolton Road. Follow this straight along for just over a mile (passing the Infirmary on your left and the canal on the right). After you go under another railway bridge, the ground is down on your left just after you pass the Aqueduct pub (for home fans only)'.

Tony Hughes informs me; 'Blackburn station is only a three minute ride away from Mill Hill. On arriving at Mill Hill walk up the steps from the platform and turn left onto New Chapel Street. Continue along New Chapel Street passing a shopping area and park. With the Spar supermarket on the opposite side of the road from you, turn left into New Wellington Street. Continue down New Wellington Street until you come to a small bridge that crosses over the Leeds Liverpool canal. You are now on Albion Street there is a large mill building on the left and a small school on the right. Walk along Albion Street to the end, and you will find yourself on Livesey Branch Road. Turn Left onto this road, and you will be able to see the football stadium in front of you at the foot of the hill'.

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A second versus third in the League match. It was a hard fought game at Shrewsbury earlier in the season. where a draw was a fair result. So I was hoping for the same sort of game in the return at Ewood Park

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

It was an easy journey as the motorway was clear. Parking was no problem too, as well as locating Ewood Park itself.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

We went to the Fenhurst pub, which was surprisingly cheap, at £3.80 for a pint of Guinness. Inside the pub there was a mix of home and away fans with no real banter going on, but they were friendly towards us

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end the other sides of Ewood Park?

As Blackburn Rovers are a former Premier League club the ground was as you would expect it to be and is of a good standard.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

As regards the game itself Blackburn were better than us on the day. The atmosphere itself was not the best I've been in this season may, probably because the ground is big and was only half full. The pies were nice and hot better than ours at Shrewsbury. The facilities were very good, in fact, the cleanest football ground toilets I've ever seen,

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Got away from ground and back on the motorway within 20 minutes so one of the quickest in the league.

This fixture was a stand out for us as soon as we knew that both teams would be playing in the same division for the first time ever thanks to a combination of a meteoric rise by one team and very poor ownership at the other. It's not every day that you get to visit the ground of a former Premier League Champion and, unsurprisingly, it was my first visit there. I also have relatives who support Blackburn so family bragging rights were up for grabs as well. The game had originally been scheduled for a Saturday in September but was rescheduled twice to make for a Halloween encounter.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Despite being warned that the M55 was at a standstill and Preston wasn't much better, we made it to Ewood Park in less than an hour with no traffic problems to report. As we took the bus, parking was not an issue, although I suspect parking might be in a car, with the prices for the Rovers car park at the ground being £10.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

Although we had 45 minutes before the start of the game, none of us felt like finding our way to a pub or chippy so instead we went straight in. As a result we didn't meet any home fans or chat to any. There were no reports of any trouble between the sets of fans on the night so I can only assume Blackburn fans are friendly enough.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

There's no doubt that Elwood Park is of Premier League standard. It's a fantastic venue of a good size with plenty of character. In fact, you could fit the entire population of Fleetwood into the ground and still have 4,000 free seats! I hear reports of Blackburn wanting to redevelop the Riverside stand (the oldest stand at the ground) into something similar to the Jack Walker Stand but I hope they don't do this as it's always nice to see an older stand at a football ground. We were situated in one half of the lower tier of the Bryan Douglas Stand.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The cliche of "a game of two halves" fits the description of the game, with the first half being a bit lacklustre before a thoroughly entertaining second half with all the goals. The final score was 2-2 which was a fair reflection of the game. We struggled to cope with Blackburn's crosses and so conceded twice to two of them but battled bravely and came back twice. Unusually, the more vocal Blackburn supporters were also housed beside us in the Bryan Douglas Stand, which made for a generally good atmosphere in one stand but left the other three very muted by comparison. Another problem from sharing the stand is that gestures and words are thrown back and forth almost with every chant. If you are taking young ones to Blackburn, I'd recommend getting tickets as close to side of the stand as possible, so as to avoid the exchanges between fans. Fortunately, the words never turned into anything more outside the ground. Unfortunately, the stewards let themselves down with some very heavy handed action after we scored our second. I didn't see how it all started, and I'm not sure the six fans of ours who were thrown out were entirely blameless, but I the stewards could have handled it far better. It all looked very unprofessional from the people who are supposedly there to keep the peace and deal with situations with a calm and pragmatic approach. The facilities, as you'd probably expect, were of a very high standard. The toilets were clean and big and the concourse was very spacious. My only issue is that some of the prices for food and drink seemed to be over the top but I suppose they are at many Football League Grounds.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Amazingly we were back in Fleetwood less than 40 minutes after getting on the coach. It took about 15 minutes to get through all three motorways which was very surprising.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall the day was a fantastic one and we came out of it with a well deserved point. The unpleasant scenes after our second equaliser soured the day a little but not to a degree that I wouldn't consider going to Blackburn again.

Having been to Ewood Park a few years ago to watch Arsenal play here and witness Thierry Henry score a stunning free kick, I wanted to take my 7 year old son who is a big Doncaster Rovers fan. This season we are trying to get to as many away games as possible.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

It was a very easy drive taking one hour 35 minutes across the M62 and the parking was easy too. I used previous reviews from this web site from other fans and took a right turn just pass the BP garage on the left, onto Branch Road and parked in a small industrial park. The cost was £4 and it was manned. Then a ten minute walk to Ewood Park.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

As I had my son with me so no pubs before hand, but did notice that both home and away fans were drinking happily together. We went to the McDonalds near to the ground after some helpful stewards pointed us the way there. It was only five minutes walk from Ewood Park.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

Ewood Park is a good ground. Although we filled the away end, it was a shame to see the stadium only a third full but that is football. Also, the leg room is a bit restricted in the away end.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

It was a good game made better by Doncaster winning 3-1 (I would have taken a draw). The food looked great and even though I did t have a pie I was told they are very good! The atmosphere was a little hostile at times and both sets of fans were shouting abuse at each other, which was a shame. We were sat just over half way up behind the goal and sadly amongst the idiots. I would normally move seats but as the away section was sold out, we were stuck. The stewards and Police didn't seem bothered that there was a number of fans standing in the aisles and blocking out the view, but overall the stewards were friendly.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game

Again very easy. We were back at the car within 15 minutes of the final whistle and straight out of the car park. We arrived home at 6.35pm and the journey was 84 miles long.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

I enjoyed it and would recommend going to Ewood Park. I would just watch where you sit (i.e. not near the home fans) especially if you have younger children with you. The other friendly and helpful Blackburn fans and stewards made it worthwhile.

This would only be the second time I have been to Ewood Park. The first time I went was back in 1985 when both teams were in the old Division 2. Barnsley won the game 3-0. I was hoping for something similar today especially with Blackburn Rovers being in the relegation zone and Barnsley in the more comfortable position of 13th place. However, Barnsley were without a win, both home or away in their last nine games.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

I made my journey to Ewood Park by car which took me over the Pennines via the M1/M62 and M66. I set off at 11.30am and arrived in Blackburn at 1.30pm having stopped at the motorway services for refreshments. I decided to head for a car park in the Industrial Estate on Branch Road which was then only a 15 minute walk to the ground. There are two or three car parks next to each other at a cost of £3 or £4 pounds for the afternoon. I chose a £3 one next to the Uncle Jacks pub.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

I decided to walk towards the ground and I called at the Fernhurst Pub where I noticed some Barnsley fans mixing with the Home fans outside the pub. It was a beautiful warm and sunny afternoon so I decided to join them and join in the football banter. Everybody seemed friendly enough and as there were ' bouncers ' on the door there were no problems at all.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

I made my way to the Away end of the ground which was the Bryan Douglas Darwen End and after the usual frisking down by the Stewards I had a quick coffee inside the ground which tasted very good. I was fortunate enough to have an aisle seat as the rows are very close together which doesn't give you much leg room. I was actually very impressed with the ground itself, although it was nothing like I remembered from the old days apart from the Riverside Stand on one side. The pitch was in good condition and it was a good enough view from the lower tier where both sets of fans were.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

Barnsley imposed themselves right from the kick off by scoring two quick goals inside the first ten minutes. The first one, which was after just three minutes, came from a header by the Barnsley Captain and centre half; Marc Roberts. Blackburn appeared to be stunned by this and couldn't settle down which then lead to Barnsleys​' second goal on ten minutes which was an absolute screamer from Marley Watkins as he latched onto to a pass and hit the ball from 25 yards out that went in-off the crossbar. It was one of those goals similar to the well known Geoff Hurst goal for England in the 1966 World Cup Final against West Germany. The linesman flagged for the goal immediately and there was no argument from the Blackburn players. So, at 2-0 up although Barnsley were in a good position Blackburn began to play some good football and came close to scoring on a few occasions, but they let themselves down with the final ball. It was end to end stuff all through the first half but Blackburn couldn't break down the Barnsley defence, and so the players went in at half time with the score 2-0 to Barnsley.

The second half began with Blackburn trying to attack and get back in the game but yet again the Barnsley defence was solid. However, Blackburn came very close to pulling one back when a shot was cleared off the line by a Barnsley defender. After that it was a case of Barnsley hanging on and defending well until the final whistle much to the delight of the 1200 or so Reds fans.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Getting away from the ground was very easy. Straight back to the car and off towards the Motorways back home, with no problems at all.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

It was a very pleasing day out with the Reds at Ewood Park, coming away with a well deserved victory, and one which was very much overdue. The Championship Table doesn't look good for Blackburn still in the relegation zone, but for Barnsley they are now guaranteed playing in the Championship League again next season. I do hope Blackburn can avoid relegation purely because it would be another good away fixture and easy to get to.

Blackburn Rovers v Preston North End
Football Championship League
Saturday 18th March 2017, 1pm
Munsif Patel (Preston North End fan)

Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting Ewood Park?

I had visited Blackburn Rovers the season previously witnessing a great 2-1 win and a with the tremendous backing of over 7,000 North End fans. So it was great to visit again especially as we were pushing for a play-off position and with around 6,000 Preston fans making the trip. The journey to Blackburn was also relatively short (about 25 minutes).

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Me and my mate were dropped off about five minutes walk from the ground as we saw many fans walking in the same direction so we just followed them!

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

We didn't really have time for this because it was an early kick off and we just wanted to get into the ground because it was pouring it down with rain. The home and away fans were creating a great atmosphere due to the intense rivalry and there was lots of security around the ground, to make sure nothing got out of hand.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

Ewood Park looks quite big from the outside. Inside, the ground it has three modern two-tiered stands with the remaining side located to the right of the away end, being much older and only around half the size of the other stands. The only negative thing was that there wasn't much leg room in the away end and it was quite cramped so the majority of fans stood throughout the game.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

Preston got off to a great start early in the game with Tom Barkhuizen sliding the ball past Jason Steele on 13 minutes. We were controlling the game throughout the first period with more shots and corners and we were looking threatening. But towards half time Blackburn began to find their rhythm and our back line were looking nervous. On 43 minutes Elliot Bennett equalised for the home side with a sensational strike from 25 yards which flew past the Preston keeper.

After the break, we were very sloppy missing a number of chances, which came to haunt us when Craig Conway slid the ball past Chris Maxwell in the Preston goal and although it looked suspiciously offside it still counted. Preston started to get in the game again and late into the game Paul Gallagher floated a brilliant cross into the box with Paul Huntington putting the ball into the net only to be judged offside. But in the 93rd minute Tom Clarke slid the ball to Aiden McGeady, who calmly passed the ball into the corner of the net to send the 6000 travelling fans ballistic!

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Many fans were walking away from the ground and the Preston fans were chanting right next to the Blackburn fans which obviously turned into a few small handbags scuffles. But again there was a lot of Police of and security outside the ground to prevent ant=y further trouble.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

It was a great day out at Ewood Park. We found a retail centre around ten minutes walk from the ground which made it good for some nice food after the game. Equalising in the 93rd minute against your local rivals is always a great feeling!

I have never been to Ewood Park before and this is a former Premier League winning side and its one of the larger grounds in the Championship. Although these days the club is less supported!

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Strangely as we drove through the centre of Blackburn and we saw little or no signs showing us where Ewood Park was. However subsequently other fans told us it is well signposted on the motorways around Blackburn. We found a free car park just off the A666 (Bolton Road) called River Darwen Parkway. It is signposted off the A666 by Ewood Bikes Shop. From there it was only a ten minute walk to Ewood Park.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

We went to the well documented Fernhurst pub, across and just down the road from Ewood Park. Away fans were welcomed in and it was fine.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

I thought Ewood Park was impressive. The Away end was well sized, had a good view of the pitch, plus well segregated and controlled.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The game had a 0-0 draw written all over it, until Blackburn pinched a 91st minute winner, with a dubious goal. The Rovers fans taunted us at the end but such as life. The atmosphere at times was dull, an annoying drum played in their end with no one singing which annoyed many fans. At times our boys made noise. Had a cheese and onion pie, good enough but nothing special. Quite well priced.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Getting away from the ground. Easy, no problems with traffic or fans. They were happy with the result and we didn't play badly, unlucky with the goal decision but that is the way it goes sometimes.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall I had a good day out at Blackburn. Ewood Park is a decent sized ground and to be honest £22 entrance for an away fan, is very well priced!

I was hoping to see Blues get their first win under new manager Gianfranco Zola. I was also hoping to see one or two player debuts for Birmingham. Finally, I'd heard a few things about Ewood Park, so I wanted to experience it for myself.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

I live in Nottingham (in exile!) so it was a pretty long drive (120 miles each way) but really straightforward. Arrived fairly early and managed to park on Bolton Road - up the hill. It's the main road which goes right past the stadium. From where I parked was a 10 minute stroll to Ewood Park.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

It was a really cold day, so after a brief scout around outside, I headed into the ground, so didn't visit any pubs or chippy's beforehand. I didn't meet a single Blackburn fan before or after the game, which was a little unusual. So I can only assume they are as friendly as the staff at Ewood Park.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

From the outside, Ewood Park is reasonably impressive, with a nice photo montage of the club's history which can be seen above the away ticket collection booths. Inside, the stadium actually felt a little sad. The home fans were pretty sparse and I heard little noise from them (apart from an occasional drum being banged) until they scored, in first half injury time. The weather was cold and grey as well so the atmosphere in the rest of the ground felt quite dismal, unfortunately.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The game itself was a pretty dour affair aside from the first and last 20 minutes. Birmingham, without a win in seven under our new manager and Blackburn, skirting with relegation were often mired in a midfield scramble. That said, the Blues fans were loud and full of songs for much of the game. However, things became so turgid that for periods, the whole stadium was almost silent. The stewards were cheery and engaged really well with the away fans, as did the local Police who seemed good natured and even chatty. The away end facilities are really good - two decent-sized bars/food outlets with a good selection of drinks, pies etc available. I didn't eat but had a huge hot chocolate. Unlike many other grounds - it wasn't watered down (!) and so was really delicious. There were also a couple of televisions which were showing an early kick-off match. This kept the Blues fans entertained and out of the bitter cold, before the match.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Getting away from the ground was unusual on two counts. Firstly, I didn't encounter any Blackburn fans (as far as I could tell). Many of the Blues fans left the away end and headed up Bolton Road to their cars. I don't remember seeing any home fans at all. There must have been some of course! Secondly, getting away from the ground - heading out towards the M65 was really easy and almost entirely traffic-jam-free. The Police had a great system in place for allowing football traffic to get away, so a big credit to them.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall, an interesting day. The result - a 1-1 draw kind of felt appropriate. I would like to visit again, on a warm day, with a big crowd, to see the Blackburn fans, and Ewood Park more lively. And hopefully a much better game!

It was my first Newcastle away game, and I see Blackburn Rovers as one of what I call "the old Premier League clubs". Basically clubs who were in the Premier League when I first started really getting into football.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Overall the journey was okay. We hit one or two standstill points on the motorway but nothing too bad. We initially put the wrong postcode into the sat nav so ended up in the Darwen area of Blackburn before finding our way to Ewood Park. I noticed a lot of speed cameras and camera monitored bus lanes meaning you need to be extra carefully in Blackburn and Darwen unless you want a fine arriving in your post! Parking was good. I i had checked on this website prior to traveling and took the advise of other fans to park at one of the small businesses on Branch road for £5, which I would defiantly recommend, as it is in walking distance to the ground and easy to get back to.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

After the delay of going to the wrong place at first we did not have as much time as we would have liked to look around and go to a pub. So we just got a burger from a van outside of the ground before a quick look around the fan zone that had been set up to occupy our 7000 fans! We went into the ground around 2pm in order to watch the warm ups etc..

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

As this was my first away game I was not sure what to expect. I was happy to see a good old fashioned English ground, surrounded by houses instead of out in the middle of no where as most modern grounds are nowadays.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

There was not a great home crowd in attendance so there was not much of a atmosphere from the home end. In fact large parts of the ground were empty. We took around 7000 fans, the atmosphere in the away end was fantastic even though we lost 1-0. We played pretty well, it was just the fact we did not take our chances and another woefully Championship referee that spoiled the day. Facilities were of a decent enough standard, service for refreshments was as you would expect. We had a hot drink as it was freezing cold day. £2.50 for a cuppa is expensive but St James' Park is the same so no complaints there. We were searched before entering the ground and made to throw away lids to bottles of pop but aloud to take the actual drink in which I found strange, but this may be common place at other grounds too.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Branch road where we parked is around 10 minutes walk (uphill) from Ewood Park. There was a heavy Police presence as most roads around the ground were closed at full time. After leaving the car park we opted to turn left, instead of right to try and avoid traffic but we still managed to get stuck as the Police had blocked the road so that the away fan coaches could be escorted away from the ground. It took around 30 minutes to get back onto the motorway, but from there it was plain sailing.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

I really enjoyed the overall experience, despite the result. I would defiantly go back to Ewood Park!

I had not been to Ewood Park before and I always like away games. Plus it is only a 1 hour 20 minute from my home.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Easy journey; from my place in Stoke-on-Trent, straight up the M6 and onto the M65. Then leaving the M65 at Junction 4 and following the brown tourist signs for Ewood Park , DO NOT put the clubs post code into your sat nav (BB2 4FJ ), as that takes you onto Jack Walker Way and onto a housing estate, just follow the brown signs when you leave the motorway . If you get there early enough parking is really good. I got onto the main road right opposite the stadium .Although I was told by others there that there were some industrial units nearby that offer parking for a small charge.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

Before the game I had the compulsory matchday burger from a van by the ground, only average I'm afraid, but I was resupplied by the chippy down the road. I don't know the name of it; big red sign on the front, good food, good portions, £2.60 for chips and peas, well worth it. There were a few Blackburn lads in there, seemed like a good bunch. We had a chat about the game and each others sides, no trouble, quite friendly.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

I thought that Ewood Park was a decent ground. It is quite modern looking with a decent club shop etc...It is a similar sized stadium to the City Ground (but obviously not as good , ha). I like the more traditional grounds and although this is a new looking ground it ain't like one of the new flat pack type of stadiums.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The game was a bad one from a Forest point of view and Blackburn deserved their win. The atmosphere was mostly flat. The home fans were a disappointment. Not much singing or banter from them. The Forest fans played our part but at times you could hear a pin drop inside Ewood Park, apart from one Blackburn youth with a drum. He was louder than the rest of the stadium put together. The Forest fans chanted "Your drum's too loud for you!" Still I can't blame him for trying though. Stewards were okay; mostly friendly apart from their supervisor. A right jobsworth for the sake of it type. Oh the power!

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Getting away from the ground was very easy. The transport was the easiest part of the day.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Good trip despite the result. I would go to Park again. It was a poor turn out though by the home fans. The attendance was only 10.462 in a stadium that holds over 31,000, but overall an enjoyable experience.

Blackburn Rovers is a very historic club so I was really excited to visit their Ewood Park ground. We never normally take any points away from there but this season I was hopeful.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

We traveled by car and on leaving the M65, we just followed the signs towards Ewood Park, easy enough. We parked only two minutes away from the stadium for a good price of £3.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

We arrived two hours before kick off so firstly we went for some food. We couldn't see that many places so we settled for the nearby McDonalds. We then had a look around the fanzone at the ground itself, which was showing the live Chelsea v Leicester City game, which kept us entertained.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

Three of the four stands at Ewood Park are very modern, so I was surprised how nice it was. But the remaining Riverside Stand on one side is a lot smaller and quite old looking, it really needs some attention. My first impression of the away end was 'this is quality' as it was very nice and tidy from the outside.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

Inside Ewood Park it was brilliant. The facilities were some of the best I've seen in the Championship League. The atmosphere was poor from the home supporters and the Ipswich fans tried our best to get some singing going. The game itself was another poor performance, but we created all the chances and limited Blackburn. We could just not find the back of the net. The game ended 0-0.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Leaving Blackburn was no problem. There was much traffic due to the low attendance of just under 11,000.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall I was pretty disappointed with the result as we should have won. But Ewood Park itself was good and was worth the money I paid.

Ewood Park was a ground that we had wanted to visit last season, but the fixture was moved to a Friday evening meaning that we couldn't attend. So when this Saturday fixture came up we decided to go. Blackburn has a history in the Premiership and so we wanted to go along and have a look at the ground.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

We went by train via Leeds changing at Accrington for Mill Hill Station. An off peak day return for me and my grandson was £15. From Mill Hill Ewood Park was not too difficult to find as we simply followed the home fans. The ground is a 15-20 minute walk from Mill Hill Railway Station.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

We went to Wetherspoons in Accrington, where we were changing trains. It was a good pub with cheap beer and a decent breakfast for around £3.50. Accrington Stanley were playing Pourtsmouth, but it still was not too busy.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

Ewood Park is a ground which was built in a working class area, a bit like Barnsley. The away end was great as we could sit where we wanted. The ground on three sides was modern with an old stand running along the river side of the stadium, but this did give Ewood Park some character.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

Our defending is shocking and we suffered a 4-2 defeat. There was someone banging a drum in the same end as us, but in the home section as we shared the stand with the home fans. The atmosphere built up once they went 3-1 up.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Same as getting to the ground. We called in at a nearby Aldi for provisions for the train. Local youths were hanging around Mill Hill station waiting to egg away fans - they were irritating and cheeky but didn't actually realise we were from Rotherham.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

A good away day - with a nice journey looking over the hills, with some great scenery in parts. We shared the train journey there with some Portsmouth and Rotherham fans, plus a hen party going to Blackpool, so it made for a lively journey. Coming back we were a bit subdued following the poor result. We have seen our side let in 14 goals in our last four away games!

Rather embarrassingly, at 26 years old, this was going to be my first Norwich away game. Decided, on a whim, by myself and a couple of mates, we were going to make our way to the game and then stop over in Lincoln for a night out on the way back to Norfolk - why not make a weekend of it? Knowing Norwich hadn't won on the opening day for 14 years (and Blackburn not having won their first game of the season for something like 5 years), we were seriously hoping the day wouldn't be ruined by a bore draw!

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Although the journey was around four hours, once you're off Norfolk and Lincolnshire's single carriageway roads (and out of the way of the seemingly never-ending number of tractors) the trip actually went very quickly. Following the sat nav, Ewood Park can't be missed - an added bonus being that it isn't slap bang in the middle of the city! Initially we drove right down to Ewood Park, but decided to turn around and park in the Golden Cup Pub's car park - for a fairly reasonable £5. I should mention that there was ample parking for away fans (and coaches) at the ground itself.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

Having used their car park, we thought we might as well have a swift one at the Golden Cup. As the sun was beaming down, and the temperature was hitting around 26 degrees, we decided to make use of the outside seating area. Three pints of Fosters set us back 10 quid - no qualms. We then decided to take a ten minute walk down to the Fernhurst pub, having seen that it was a Hungry Horse, for a bit of lunch. Food was as you would expect from a national chain - very reasonably priced but not Michelin star material. Although billing itself as an away fans pubs, there were a few home fans present. No trouble whatsoever. That said, I should mention that the bar staff don't take very kindly to singing. A fistful of Norwich fans (around 30/40) were asked to leave the pub purely and simply for singing. I can only assume that, as Hungry Horse is a national chain, they have to bill themselves as a family pub and also protect their reputation somewhat - but then, if that is the case, surely you wouldn't bill yourselves as an away fans pub!

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

Ewood Park is a perfectly nice ground. three modern, two tier, stands and one that looks a bit old and tattered. Security were perfectly friendly when searching us on the way in. As I read elsewhere, there really is very little spacing between seating rows. This inevitably resulted in people falling into the rows in front when that first goal went in (I think people swiftly learnt their lesson for the remainder of the game!)

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The game was brilliant. Atmosphere from the Norwich fans was immense - but then we did take an early two goal lead and ended up winning 4-1 (yes - our first opening day win in 14 years!). Home support was poor to be honest. 12,500 attendance, of which 1500 were away fans. None of the upper tiers were open and there were floods of empty seats.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

At the final whistle we exited the ground, and walked 15 minutes, uphill, back to the Golden Cup. Within half an hour of the final whistle we were back on the road, Lincoln bound. I can't stress enough he convenience of the parking at the Golden Cup, you're literally one minute away from getting back onto the motorway.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall, a brilliant day out, made all the sweeter by getting those early three points!

Blackburn Rovers v Preston North End
Football Championship League
Friday 2nd April 2016, 3pm
Paul Willott (Preston North End fan)

Way back in the mists of time, a young Preston North End supporter was savouring promotion from the third tier along with several thousand delirious colleagues on the away terrace at Cambridge United’s quaint old ground. The sound of “Bring on the Rovers ; Bring on the Rovers…” sprang from the happy throng as a young David Moyes celebrated with the players, and the reality dawned on us that it was no longer a pipe dream. Next season, we would actually meet the Rovers. As equals. A date not to be missed. Especially after those years of having to endure basement division football whilst they lorded it in the lofty reaches of the Premier League. The years of us having to see Rovers stars such as Shearer, Sherwood, and Ripley modelling the latest M&S menswear range on billboards on OUR main shopping street. The days of the Rovers using OUR ground for their reserve matches. The days of the Rovers offering to take us “under their wing” as a feeder club.

As fate would have it, I was come the turn of the new year in the following season almost chest deep in cardboard boxes as I prepared to move out of my little flat in south London to become a home-owner down in Kent. I reasoned that I could not really justify taking the time out of “operation house-move” to take in the match. It had been a good season so far, adjusting well to life in the higher division, and I’d been lucky enough to see a fair few matches home and away. Furthermore, with both teams comfortably in mid-table as the clash at Ewood approached and in no danger of relegation or troubling the promotion race , I reasoned quite logically that there was always going to be “next season……..” Except there wasn’t. Both the Rovers and North End went on excellent runs as the green shoots of spring first appeared………..and Rovers ended up nicking the second automatic promotion spot ( painfully with a 1-0 win at Deepdale ) whilst David Moyes steered the North End to a 4th place spot and a play-off berth. History will relate how Deepdale roared as Birmingham City were edged out in the play-off semi-finals and a day of destiny beckoned in a play-off final against Bolton Wanderers. The trip to Cardiff may not have been “Operation Market Garden”, but for the up and coming squad under David Moyes it sadly did prove to be “a game too far”…… Little did I know then that I’d have to wait another 16 years for a chance to visit Ewood to watch my beloved North End. Hence once the euphoria ( and the hangover ) wore off following our play-off final victory in 2014 ( our first in 10 attempts ) against a hapless Swindon Town, I served notice to the Missus that the fixture at Ewood WOULD be one of those to be attended by myself irrespective of weddings, funerals, court appearances, graduation ceremonies and the like. I conceded that only the end of the world alone would be a good enough reason not to go and I seem to recollect that the away fixture at Bolton was put into the same category.

Riverside Stand

Once the fixture list was produced for the 2015-2016 season, there were 3 “away” fixtures that I ring-fenced with mouth-watering anticipation. Burnley, Bolton Wanderers, and Blackburn Rovers. Once we’d taken a magnificent three points away from Turf Moor against the promotion chasing clarets in early December, local bragging rights were further enhanced with a much savoured win away to the relegation threatened Bolton Wanderers. Hence I have to admit, the imminent build up to the clash at Ewood did fill me with the proverbial pangs of doubt. Could we really contemplate to achieve an unlikely “treble” of away wins at our local rivals? It seemed almost too much to hope for, all the laws of probability betted against it, and part of me almost felt self-reproachful for being greedy. As the days ticked down before the fixture, I seemed to spend more of each waking hour debating with myself whether it was unreasonable to hope for a clean sweep of away wins in the “big 3” away from home during the season, or whether given the Rovers very indifferent season compared to our promising one should actually encourage thoughts towards contemplating three points. It’s hard to determine throughout my football supporting life which match would be the one I’d anticipated the most; after all, there have been down the years some great cup ties, and of course, big play-off fixtures…….but those are matches that you don’t have the best part of 8 months to think about in the build up…….on top of a 16 year wait to scratch the itch…

In normal circumstances, getting up to Blackburn itself would have been a mission ; but the challenge was further enhanced with the fact that my partner was having a pre-booked holiday with her children on the south coast in the week prior to the big match which I’d already been excused from, but as the eldest lad had expressed an extreme desire to come along to the match I undertook to drive down to Chichester from Kent on the Thursday to spend an afternoon and evening with everyone before heading up north on the Friday. Driving up on the day was out of the question as it had been made an early kick-off ; unless one fancied setting off at daft o’clock in the morning , and quite frankly, I didn’t.

The first major hurdle presented itself on the Thursday upon arrival in the Chichester area, when the car decided to declare itself unwell and in need of the physio’s attention. After the attention of a local mechanic and shelling out for a new battery, we could look forward to the next stage of the mission….. A fairly straightforward trek up the A27, A3, A34, M40 before rolling onto the M6 ensued before heading into the town centre of Blackburn and our B&B whereupon the car decided once again that she’d done enough for the day and expired…..fortunately our eldest was more than happy to oblige and help push the motor into the car park. I opted to worry about the poorly motor car the following day as it was fairly late, and it seemed logical to get some sleep.

After a hearty and leisurely breakfast we started to wander down towards Ewood Park on foot. This was an interesting dichotomy; I could tell our eldest was simply buzzing with anticipation of what was hoped would be a keenly fought derby match, yet for me it felt a trifle odd. For starters, having been a frequent visitor to Blackburn in my formative years to visit relatives (a whole branch of the family resided here), it seemed weird to be in familiar surroundings yet for an unfamiliar event. I guess also there may have been an element of anti-climax as it seemed all so relaxed and tame after eight months of waiting…..

Once in sight of Ewood Park however, all of that changed; I stopped focusing on weirdness and instead found I was bubbling now with excitement. Down the years, I’d seen the ground on countless occasions; a classic northern footy ground amongst terraced houses with the classic floodlight pylons. I’d seen it change too, as Jack Walker’s vision for his boyhood club of a top flight ground fit for top flight football started to take shape. And now here we were; the Preston North End arriving for a derby fixture at another famous old ground. The aroma of burgers cooking from various vans wafted across the air as a helicopter in police colours hovered overhead; a reminder as if it were needed that a key derby fixture was about to take place. As we had club colours very much under wraps, we happily went for a little wander around the immediate vicinity of the stadium.

From the outside, Ewood Park looks like a good quality football stadium which is befitting given Blackburn’s place as one of the oldest clubs in the business and one of the 12 founding members of the football league. Similarly to our own home at Deepdale, a historical old ground has survived the post Taylor Report era with flying colours and still resembles a proper football ground. There are three fairly similar looking modern stands comprising the new main stand flanked by the Blackburn End behind one goal, and the Darwen End behind the other, whilst the slightly smaller Riverside Stand seems slightly out of place but pleasingly still gives the ground some character. The icing on the cake is that standing sentry either side of the Riverside are two proper floodlight pylons that help preserve that most essential flavour of a football ground. Perhaps most poignant is the statue to Jack Walker. We looked at it for some time whilst I informed my younger companion of the significance of the contribution made by the local lad made successful industrialist towards his boyhood club.

Jack Walker Statue

Nearby, a big screen was showing extended highlights of the clash between the 2 sides earlier on during the season at Deepdale, where the men from Ewood ran out 2-1 winners. In the intervening few months, one of the scorers for Rovers that afternoon Jordan Rhodes had been sold to Middlesbrough seemingly without replacement, and any hope they may have sustained to reach the promotion play-off places had long evaporated. Meanwhile, Preston had consolidated their place in mid-table quite comfortably, and whilst mathematically still in with a shout of play-off contention, I think all but the most over-optimistic North-Ender would have accepted that they were realistically out of reach.

Now you could have been forgiven for thinking that with nothing to really play for, both sets of supporters would have been fairly muted……but with local bragging rights up for grabs the atmosphere was positively beginning to crackle in and around the ground. Indeed, the Darwen End was a complete 7,000 sell out for Preston fans, most of whom arrived in good voice following the short journey along the A59. There was even suggestions that several hundred Preston supporters unable to get tickets had, or were planning to try and get in other stands to watch the match. I wonder if some of them had like me missed the last league fixture thinking that there’s ‘always be next season’ and weren’t going to run the risk again maybe?

Blackburn End

It’s also entirely possible that some sensed this would be our best chance to see a win with North End substantially higher in the table and on half decent form, and if there was apprehension around the ground, it was distinctly more palpable from the home supporters. As we were still full from our large breakfast, we didn’t trouble the food kiosks, and instead headed into the seating area to taste the build-up in the atmosphere. By the time the teams came out of the tunnel to the sound of Coldplay, the atmosphere in the Darwen End was positively jumping as the 7,000 strong legion of Preston supporters implored their players to dig deep and secure more local bragging rights.

Once the game got underway, it commenced with that classic tough keenly fought battle that you hope and expect for in a derby match. You could sense it mattered to both sets of players. I suspect the locals hadn’t let them forget the pain of being beaten at home by equally bitter rivals Burnley for the first time in decades earlier on during the season here at Ewood. Not entirely against the run of play, the home side took the lead on the quarter hour mark courtesy of an Elliot Ward goal following up good approach play, and to be honest we could have had few complaints. I started to get that sinking feeling that today was not going to be our day, and that the car breaking down twice had been an omen……..and that hoping for three away wins in the season’s derbies really was just plain greedy.

Ten minutes later however, there was a brief flurry of activity at the other end as we pressed for an equaliser only to be denied by a great one-handed save courtesy of a desperately outstretched arm – a save that any keeper would have been pleased with – except the problem for the Rovers was that the person making the acrobatic save was in fact not their goalkeeper but their defender Shane Duffy. The referee had little choice but to produce the red card and award a penalty, and a downcast but unsurprised Mr Duffy trudged disconsolately off the pitch without protest. Meanwhile all around me 6,999 Preston fans danced with delight at the penalty decision. I stayed rooted to the spot. I’ve seen too many penalties missed down the years, and especially in a game such as this, it counts for nothing until the penalty has been converted.

The talismanic Joey Garner, once on Rovers books many moons prior stepped up to take the penalty and I could hardly watch………but I suspect I was one of the loudest as we saw the bottom of the net balloon as the penalty was despatched. Once again though, my nerves started to set in as we failed to capitalise on several good chances, and I started to wonder whether the curse of 10 men would strike against us. I think I hid the nerves well though, as I joined in with every chant going…..hoping against hope that we could get the job done. Just before half-time, we finally did take the lead with a good move from the midfield maestro Paul Gallagher allowing Jordan Hugill to bury a shot and put the travelling Preston faithful into raptures. I don’t think I’ve ever known a half-time whizz by so quickly…….before we’d even caught our breath, the players were back out ready to crack on with the second half. Now we sensed a rout, as we dominated the second half, and made the extra man count in just about every department except in front of goal. Even the substitute appearance of Jermaine Beckford failed to seal the third goal that would have possibly put the game to bed. And as the minutes ticked down, so the nerves returned. So close we seemed now to that 3rd away win of the big derbies, it was tantalising, yet the Rovers 10 men valiantly threw everything including the kitchen sink at a tiring Preston back-line. They even carved out a gilt edged chance to score that had 7,000 hearts in the mouths……….but for once lady luck smiled upon Preston North End as the Rovers player fluffed his lines that would have ensured hero status in the local papers back pages.

The ref blew for full time…..and the Darwen End erupted. The post-match raucous celebrations went on for an eon, and the players and the manager came over to salute the fans and enjoy the moment. For me, it was an overwhelmingly great and almost emotional moment. This was the signature to a purple period for us and our little club, and how golden it felt to have a clutch of players who clearly took such pride in playing for the club and the supporters, and it felt only right that they took time to really enjoy the moment too. Most of them had been instrumental in achieving promotion the previous season too, and it really was just one of those beautiful moments in my life of supporting Preston North End.

Jack Walker Stand

A crowd of over 21,000 had watched the derby, which showed that local bragging rights still counts for a lot even when competitively there wasn’t anything left at stake. There are I suppose, few perfect moments in football. But that makes us savour them all the more when we have them. Eventually we filtered out of the ground and dispersed in various directions. We tagged along with the army headed towards the main railway station which was close to where I’d ditched the car and I shelled out several hundred quid to join the RAC, and several hours later, the car was fixed and we were on our way south. Cost-wise, it had without doubt proven to be the most expensive away match ever once you compute the cost of a car battery, alternator, and RAC membership onto the diesel consumed en route from Chatham to Chichester, then onto Blackburn, and back to Chatham and the overnight stay, but I can honestly declare I did not care one jot.

I had dared to dream about this moment for so long. Away wins at Burnley, Bolton, and now Blackburn. All in the same season. I had no finger-nails left. I had no voice left. I was approximately £500 lighter. I couldn’t have cared less. I was as happy as could be, and the journey south just flew past as I revelled in the realisation of the dream. Coupled to that, we were clearly going to finish the season higher up the table than the Rovers, and with Bolton dropping down, we really could claim to now be one of the serious forces of Lancashire football. We really could be Proud Preston!

Plus points for Ewood Park

1. Ground still has a traditional feel to it despite modernisation
2. So long as you are okay with a reasonable walk, the ground is accessible on foot from the railway station
3. Generous away allocation when required
4. Two floodlight pylons (well………..it’s better than none at all!)

Minus points for Ewood Park

1. Home fans have a reputation for being quiet ( enhanced upon my experience )

Blackburn Rovers v Preston North End
Football Championship League
Saturday 2nd April 2016, 12.30pm
Mike Bloor (Preston North End fan)

Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting Ewood Park?

I was looking forward to the game because it was a local derby with a rival team that we hadn't played in a league game for 15 years. Also, it was nice to visit another ground and with almost 7,000 Preston fans going, this was an occasion not to be missed.

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

We took the train from Preston at around 10:30am to Blackburn Central, which was only a 20 minute journey.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

After departing the train station, we just followed the crowd of Preston fans which led us to a rather large pub. After a few early morning pints at the pub, fans starting heading towards Ewood Park. We just followed all the police cars and then eventually after one and a half miles of walking we found Ewood.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

Well it was better than Turf Moor, that's for sure! To be fair, three of the stands are rather impressive structures. The stand opposite the dugout however was a bit old and may in the future need replacing but overall a decent ground. We were on row eight of the lower tier of the Darwen End, so we were very close to the pitch.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The first half was rather entertaining. After going a goal down and the Blackburn players and fans rubbing it in our faces, karma struck them when Duffy was sent off for the home side after deliberate hand ball on the goal line. Garner drilled in the subsequent penalty to equalise. Hugill then scored a great volley to put us 2-1 up sparking wild celebrations in the Darwen End. The second half was frustrating as North End should have scored 4 or 5 goals but poor finishing nearly cost them but alas held on for the 2-1 win.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Thankfully, I remembered most of the journey on the way to the ground so it took us around 25 mins to get back to Blackburn Central Railway Station.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall, it was a great day out however thankfully I don't do earlier morning pints of beer often but for this occasion, I'll let that slide. Most definitely going again next season.

Having moved to Northern Ireland some time ago this was my first competitive Leeds away game for over 20 years & the very first away game for my son (Ewood Park is becoming the ground of choice to break your sibling into away games, see Allan Caley's previous entry).

How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

After flying into Manchester Airport, we collected the hire car and then drove up the M61 & M65 before turning off at the A666 (Ewood Park is signposted from here) Rather than follow the A666 into Blackburn we turned immediately right onto the B6231 (Sandy Lane) and down the hill passing a Premier Inn. At the bottom we turned left back towards the A666 but before you reached that junction there were several places offering parking for £5 or £6. Journey time from M65 to parking just over five minutes and from there it was just another five minutes walk to the ground with the away end the first bit you reach.

What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?

We went to the Fernhurst Lodge which is on the left after the junction with the A666. Pleasant enough pub with standard selection of beers/food friendly staff and a mix of home and away fans inside.

What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Ewood Park?

From the Bryan Douglas Stand where the away fans are located, Ewood Park looks like a typical Premier League football ground. That is until you look to your right at the Riverside Stand. This is a stand which looks more like League One or League Two standard, where entrance is from the front, leaving a large track between the pitch and the stands for access. Other than that it all looked pretty modern and the away stand has good clear views of the pitch.

Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

The early kick off time and poor form of Blackburn Rovers meant there was less home fans than in previous years and not too much noise coming from them. Stewards were fairly relaxed (certainly compared to the ones at Elland Road!) standard selection of food on offer inside the stadium.

Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Excellent. We were back at the car within ten minutes of the final whistle and on the motorway a further 5-10 minutes after that.

Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Thoroughly enjoyed being back on the road with Leeds (especially as we got a rare win 2-1!) Very easy access to/from the ground, great views from where we were standing, hard to think of a fault anywhere really.

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

I'd never been to Ewood Park before, and after a terrible set of results in November, the Wolves had just hit a bit of decent form, so I fancied us to possibly get a result. This was despite our best player Bakary Sako being unavailable because he was off to play in the African Cup of Nations. The 2pm Sunday Kick-Off (thanks Lancashire Police!) did make it a slightly more difficult away day, but I still wanted to go. After rounding up a party of people to travel with (my dad and my brother, essentially), it was just a case of getting tickets. Which at £21, I thought was very reasonable, especially compared to some away games we have been to so far this season (*cough cough* £36 at Leeds *cough cough*).

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

We went on the club's official coaches, as on this occasion it worked out as the cheapest option. Usually I'll go on the train and split the journey, but for some reason I still couldn't get a train ticket cheaper than the £17 cost of the bus. The journey took about 2 hours 10 minutes; we left Molineux at 10am and arrived at Ewood Park at 12:10pm. The ground did seem to be on a fairly straight road from the M65, so I'd suggest it's fairly easy to get to. There was plenty of car parking space, I noticed at least 3 decent sized car parks on my way there, all reasonably close to the stadium.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

I had a little walk around the ground, then got chatting to a couple of Blackburn fans. They were very happy to chat, but weren't feeling too confident ahead of the game. I noticed quite a few places to eat around the ground, so you certainly won't go hungry or thirsty!

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

The ground is a decent size, with three large stands and one slightly smaller one on the far side. The away and home ends look identical. One nice touch I noticed was that in the space between the away end and the Main Stand, there was a pictorial history of Blackburn on the wall. Being a Wolves fan, the history of a club is always something I'm interested in, so seeing Blackburn's pride in what they've achieved was great to see. More clubs should do that. Like Molineux, Ewood Park also has a statue to honour one of its former greats. Not a player, like Billy Wright, or Wolves manager, like Stan Cullis, but an owner. Jack Walker was a local lad done good, who invested millions into the club, and saw them win the Premier League in 1994-1995. Speaking to a couple of Blackburn fans stood by the statue left me in no doubt as to how respected and revered Jack was to the people of Blackburn.

The game itself was, as our manager Kenny Jackett later described, "A typical Championship game". Neither side could really dominate the first half, nor break the deadlock. Whilst Wolves probably shaded possession, Blackburn had the two most presentable chances. Ben Marshall's fizzing free kick was superbly saved by Carl Ikeme, whilst Rudy Gestede powered a header just wide from 12 yards. At the other end, Nouha Dicko's low drive very nearly squirmed into the near post, and skipper Danny Batth's towering header was cleared off the line. 0-0 at Half Time was about fair.

Second half though, the game really opened up, and the more expansive play really suited the pacey Wolves attackers. We took the lead right at the start of the half, some excellent work from Dicko finding 'Dangerous' Dave Edwards, who turned inside Grant Hanley before firing into the bottom corner. After that it was all Wolves. Dicko thumped the bar with an effort, Edwards twice slid in but couldn't convert low crosses from James Henry then Rajiv Van La Parra, whilst Batth again came close with a header, this time though his effort from 6 yards missed the target. Blackburn's best chance of an equaliser came when Richard Stearman comically headed against his own post. Late on substitute Josh King found a yard of space and hit the target, only to be denied smartly by Ikeme. Wolves held on though for an impressive win, to take their run to 3 straight League wins. 1-0 makes the game sound a little mundane, but as the ever astute Jackett pointed out, most games in the Championship are decided by this sort of margin. But for a 'Nightmare November', as I've christened it, we could quite easily be challenging at the table's summit. As it was, the three points took Wolves to 8th, and within a point of the play-off places.

I thought the atmosphere was a little subdued at times. Ewood Park was by no means full, the fact that it was just after Christmas, and 2pm on a Sunday perhaps contributing to a lower than usual gate. The home fans got behind their team occasionally, but the loudest chant was aimed at their manager Gary Bowyer. "You don't know what you're doing.." echoed round the ground as he replaced the threatening Gestede with Chris Brown (the former Doncaster striker, rather than the R&B star and Rihanna's one time squeeze). The away end was split between home and away fans, which as you can imagine led to some banter between the two. One particular group of surly youths, resplendent in trackies and trainers, copped some frightful stick from my fellow Wolves fans as they walked out early. "You've got school in the morning, school in the morning!” followed by "You're just a (rude word) One Direction!” One day I'll be witty enough to start a chant, for now though I'll just join in and point.

The stewards did their jobs effectively, without getting involved. It's always good fun when you have a numbered ticket, because when showing you to your seat, stewards often assume you can't count. "You're in seat 96 love, so there's 90, it will be 6 along". Well, that's usually how numbers work, thanks. All joking aside, they were very friendly. The food was your usual football ground fayre- pies, burgers, hot dogs. You can gain calories just looking at the menu. I had a marvelous 'Peppered' Steak Pie though, I really recommend it. On a cold Lancashire afternoon it was perfect. Notice how I've put the Peppered part in inverted commas though, because it was very peppery! It took me until the following Tuesday to get some of my taste buds working again.

I often read horror stories about the male toilets at football grounds, the sort that make me glad to be a girl. The female toilets tend to be well maintained, and Ewood Park was no exception. The concourse was actually very spacious I felt, and even at Half Time when everybody was down there you could just about walk round without knocking into people too badly.

The programme was excellent, and whilst £3 is about the going rate these days, I was more than happy to pay. If you can pick your way through the adverts there were some excellent articles, including what looks like a season-long feature on the 1994-1995 Premier League winning side.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Very easy, the coaches were parked at the back of the away end, so a 2 minute walk from the stand to the warmth of the coach, and after a 10 minute wait we were off. The journey home was accompanied by 5 Live's commentary of Southampton beating Man Utd at Old Trafford, followed by the usual collection of nutters phoning up 606. To listen to some of them, it's amazing they've worked out how to use a telephone to ring up, honestly.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Obviously a win always makes those away days feel sweeter, but I did really enjoy my trip to Ewood Park. It has the feel of a modern stadium, but one that's very much in touch with its past. Blackburn's fans were very accommodating and friendly, and whilst the atmosphere wasn't the greatest, I can imagine when it's full for those thunderous Lancashire derbies, that it can get very raucous.

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

This was Cardiff's opening game of the 2014/15 season. Plus it was to be my first away game unaccompanied, as previously I have always gone with my Dad. So I was looking forward to meeting up with my mates for the day out in the North West.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

I traveled up on the supporters bus from Cardiff. It was a Friday night game and we left at about 12:30pm. The traffic was a nightmare and it took us about 6 and 1/2 hours to get there, literally getting there five minutes before kick off. Still we did better than a lot of other Cardiff fans, who I noted were still coming into the ground at half time!

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

As I said we only had a few minutes before the game, so it was straight into the stadium, although a few of the home fans gave a lot of banter on the way which was good.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

Pretty much the same as a lot of grounds with four separate stands. Three of them were modern looking with one older stand located on one side. I did note that eventhough the away end was pretty modern, there was not much room to walk or move in, between the rows.

The stewards were very good with us all. Plus the atmosphere was also very good, with both sets of fans with us being side by side in the same stand. However, the facilities weren't brilliant as there was no organised queuing system on the concourse and the serving staff had little space to work in. Which meant it took me a good 20 minutes to get served at half time.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

After the game it was very easy getting away from the ground on the coach, as the police gave us an escort away from the stadium and back into the motorway. There were no traffic problems on the way back.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

The day was very enjoyable, after we finally arrived there after a gruelling journey. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, so at least we picked up a point. Both teams put in good performances although Cardiff seemed to run out of steam a bit in the second half. I'm normally not one to have a got at the, referee but there were some very questionable decisions throughout the match. But all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the day out.

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

I haven't attended an away Leeds game for over 30 years and decided to take my son to his first ever.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

We left Grimsby at 09:30am and it was very easy to park up the hill near the M56 junction on a street, arriving at 12:30.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

We went in the small Golden Cup pub for a drink till about 2:20pm. It was packed with about 400 Leeds fans both inside and out. There wasn't any trouble at all. Didn't see any Blackburn fans until we walked the short distance down the hill to the area around the ground. There was a large police presence and they looked on edge, but I saw no incidents.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

It was a fantastic view from the 4th row of the upper tier of the Darwen End, right behind the goal. the rest of the stadium looked good but it seemed almost empty. The Walker stand looks good but only had a couple of thousand in it. The Riverside was a third full and the Blackburn end was maybe 1/2 to 2/3rds full and quiet for much of the game.

The game: well we had a great view of an abject performance by both teams really. The atmosphere was the highlight of the trip with 6,800+ Leeds fans there I lost my voice before the end of the game. The stewards were there; and that was about it. I didn't see any of them talking to anybody. We stood up the whole match so don't really know if the seats were too cramped. The queues for food were too long to join and the toilet facilities were good. The result: 1-0 to Blackburn, a draw would have been a fair result :-(

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Very easy to leave the ground and getting back to the car was quick and we were back on the motorway within 20 minutes of the final whistle.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

A great day out, we'll do it again next year if we are still in the same division as them, and hope for a better result.

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

Lancashire Derby mainly but with both us and Rovers surprisingly struggling to stay in the Championship - us after a season of monumental upheaval - this was a big one. Also, I for one, was looking forward to giving Michael "Voldemort" Appleton some stick after he defected from us to Rovers, only for Rovers to sack him a few days before the game. Spoilsports.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

I decided against taking the car and went by train instead. Poulton le Fylde to Preston was fairly straightforward but Preston to Blackburn was not. First of all, the loutish behaviour of some of our fans was off putting and the train journey to Blackburn was an insight into how sardines must feel. Memo to self: Take the car next time.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

Had a drink in the Mill Hill and Haverstock pubs, about a mile from Ewood, with friends before making my way to the Darwen End. Rovers and Seasiders happily mingling on the way to the ground. I find Rovers fans very friendly and always willing to chat about football.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

Ewood Park, it has to be said, is too big for a town the size of Blackburn. Rovers, like the rest of the Lancashire clubs, do not have a big catchment area of support to draw upon. However, the facilities, policing - at Ewood itself - and stewarding were excellent.

Rovers were totally dire and we weren't much better either. Which was one of the reasons both of us were at the bottom end of the Championship. The game's main highlight was when one of our fans, dressed as a chicken to take the urine out of the Rovers support, was unfairly ejected from the ground. Big Gary Mackenzie gave us the lead midway through the second half before Jordan Rhodes, despite being so offside he was in Yorkshire, equalised for Rovers. Most of the atmosphere came from us Seasiders as usual as I thought the atmosphere from the Jack Walker, Blackburn End and Riverside Stand was funeral-like, to put it mildly. Fair result in the end.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Walked back to Blackburn station only to be met by a heavy handed Police who thought Blackpool fans were intent on trouble. Given that we have a lot of females and children amongst our support, I was angry that they were put in such a situation. Felt very uncomfortable with this and it so nearly kicked off when one of our fans was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Glad to get home in the end.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Despite the result, both of us survived comfortably in the end. But what should have been a good day out, as it usually is when I go away with Blackpool whatever the result, was spoilt by Lancashire Police's Riot Squad- like tactics at Blackburn station and the behaviour of some of our fans which only exacerbated the situation. Next time, I WILL take the car.

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

A new ground for me and unusually, I was going to be on my own (other than in the company of 3500 other Leeds fans). I had seen Ewood Park many times on television and had not been particularly impressed, but the reality proved to be somewhat different.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

The journey (M65 from West Yorkshire) was easy as I have regularly passed the signs for Ewood - J4 from the M65 - and on the A666. From the motorway junction the signage directs one down under the motorway bridge and the ground is at the bottom of the hill. Ewood Park is also within walking distance from the railway station.

Other reviews of Ewood directed drivers to one of a number of club-linked car parks or pub car parks, all of which charge between £5-£10. Personally, I think football is dear enough without adding unnecessarily to the overall cost (my ticket was £32, the price hiked by Blackburn in tit-for-tat retaliation for what Ken Bates had charged away fans at Elland Road). I was therefore pleased to find early arrival gave me a choice of on street parking: to the left of the Gold Cup pub (immediately under the motorway bridge) or on the main road after the traffic lights, leading down to Ewood Park. The walk to the ground took no more than 10 minutes.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

Having plenty of time before the game, I took the opportunity to add to my collection of stadium photographs. As kick-off approached there were plenty of Leeds fans around wearing colours with no suggestion of trouble. Watching the teams arrive home fans were quite happy to engage in conversation, perhaps partly due to the fact that we have had similar experiences in recent years (owners and managers we have not been happy with; performances failing to live up to expectations etc).

For those looking for a pub, the Golden Cup, just off the motorway, is designated for away fans.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

A statue of Jack Walker stands outside the Blackburn End and Ewood Park is now very much 'The House That Jack Built'. I suppose he was the ideal football club owner: a fan, with the money to build a successful side and a ground to match.

As with many traditional football ground locations, Ewood Park is flanked on one side by terraced housing, but on the other by a small river. The stand adjacent to the latter is somewhat incongruous, being a single tiered affair with pillars, whereas the other three stands are modern steel-and-glass and bigger than I had anticipated.

Inside, the ground is similarly modern: clean concourses (at least in the away end), great lines of sight and close to the pitch.

The game was reasonably entertaining, with Leeds looking the more likely scorers. It was therefore a surprise when it ended 0-0 - our first goalless draw in 50-odd games. The 3500 Leeds supporters easily outsang the 14500 home support who had perhaps lost their collective voice having eventually persuaded the owners that Steve Kean was not the man to take the club forward.

Stewards were polite and unobtrusive. Refreshments were typical unimaginative football fare and overpriced (£2.20 for a cup of tea). Toilets were clean but probably inadequate at half time after the quantity of beer that was presumably consumed before the game.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

The police had a well-rehearsed procedure for handling the crowd after the game: much of the road immediately outside the ground was cordoned off to traffic. I had a ten minute walk back to the car, which I had parked close to the motorway, followed by a ten minute delay as departing coaches were given priority over side roads. Once on the motorway it was a clear run home on the M65.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Although the result was slightly disappointing, this was a great day out. I liked the fact that there was none of the faux atmosphere some clubs (e.g. Wigan) create to try to cover for the lack of noise coming from the crowd - we don't need that sort of Americanisation in football. But the main memory of the day was the people I came into contact with at Blackburn: home fans, stewards, programme sellers, ticket office- and catering staff were friendly and unusually (in my experience) courteous - a real credit to the club.

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

Another new ground for me, had already earmarked this before the fixtures came out. Unfortunately we were drawn away to Blackburn in the 3rd round of the FA cup about a month prior to this so we did not take a big following to either ties (we took 567 in the cup). We'd taken 1,344 to Bolton towards the start of the season and would have taken at least this amount if we hadn't played Blackburn in the cup. One of the bigger grounds in the division and a ground I've seen on TV many times so I was looking forward to seeing my team play here.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Easy, from the pub we went to (the Anchor on Blackburn Road) it was a straight road to the ground, albeit a fairly long one. We parked in a car park two minutes walk from the stadium for a fiver.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

Went to the Anchor which was the advised away fan friendly pub as the usual one (the Fernhurst) was closed. It is quite near to the exit off the motorway so perfect in that sense. Parked in pub car park along with a couple of minibuses and a coach full of city fans. Great pub inside (although no proper cider) - 2 pool tables, football on the TVs and darts. Quite a few city fans inside and a couple of Blackburn fans who seemed friendly. Got into the ground just before KO so not enough time to get a drink in the ground but was impressed to see were selling Kingston Press cider (which most city fans seemed to be drinking).

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

Ground looked impressive from the outside and was good inside too. Three stands of similar description and all separate. One older stand along one side set slightly back from the pitch added character to the ground. Away concourse was small but plenty big enough for our small following. I did think how cramped in must be when Man United pack out the away end. The ground was less than half full so seemed a bit poor in that sense but got the feeling that a sell out crowd would make a fantastic atmosphere.

We lost 2-0 to two Jordan Rhodes goals. Atmosphere was quite good from the home fans - their bulk of singers stood in the same stand to our right. Must have been over 1000 who stood and sang throughout - some good banter. Their home end was heard once or twice when two nil up too although they were quiet (from where I was stood) for most the game and only had a few standing. We were poor as usual for our away support. Most sat but we still had 200 or so stood and sang up until midway through the second half. Stewards made no attempt to make anyone sit down which was good. A couple of city fans were ejected when they scored their first goal - unsure exactly why this was and it did look like one of the stewards punched a lad which meant a few fans rushed over to have a pop at them. All calmed down in a couple of minutes after some pushing and shoving.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Traffic was bad after the game. We crawled our for about 20 minutes - soon as we got on motorway we were fine all the way back. Took about 3 1/2 hours travelling time by car.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Disappointing result but was impressed with the ground and their fans (relative to some other home fans).